Cursed-Again
by SnowIvy
Summary: Henry wakes up to find that everything in StoryBrooke has changed, and no-one but him remembers how things are supposed to go. Rated T for safety, might turn into M in later chapters. Terrible summary. But please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! Thank you for giving this story a go! I hope you like it, please review (good or bad) when you finish reading, even two words would make my day! :) This Story is about StoryBrooke being cursed, and Henry is the only one who knows, sort of. Anyway, enough about me. Please Enjoy!**

 **( I own nothing. I barely own the shirt on my back. I definitely do not own OUAT** )

Henry woke to his alarm ringing shrilly in his ear, he groaned loudly, grabbed his phone and pressed the snooze button. He collapsed back onto the pillow knowing full well his mother would be bursting in, in about twenty seconds, shrieking that he was already late for school. In truth he had never been late a day in his life, as his mother always insisted he set the alarm for at least an hour and a half before he actually needed to. As Henry lay contemplating that he understood perfectly why they had called her the "Evil Queen" he realized it had been at least ten minutes since his alarm had shaken him out of his peaceful slumber.

Quickly he grabbed his phone and checked it:

8:20

Henry shook his head quickly, and checked the phone again:

8:21

"Damn it!"

He groaned and jumped out of bed, throwing on a pair of jeans and a blue shirt he had never seen before, he ran out of his room and down the stairs of the large mansion.

"Mom?" he called, suddenly apprehensive, it was perfectly possible she had overslept as well, but knowing her and knowing the town, Henry doubted it.

He arrived in the kitchen to find a plate full of scrambled eggs and a glass of orange juice,there was no sign of his mother.

"Mom?" he called again, slightly calmer, she had made him breakfast, that meant she must be alright.

Suddenly he heard footsteps on the stairs and went to check. The man walking calmly down the stairs nearly gave him a heart attack. Which would have been ironic.

"Graham?"

The huntsman gave Henry a lopsided grin

"Morning Henry, late again?"

The boy was sure his mouth was hanging open, and he quickly tried to pull himself together

"Yeah, I guess so"

He managed it as offhandedly as he could, he decided it probably wasn't a good idea to ask a perfectly alive man why he wasn't dead, so instead he went with:

"Do you know where my Mom is?"

Graham, who was now walking towards the kitchen, his back to the frozen Henry, turned to look at him, his eyebrows knitted together

"You mean Emma? She's where she always is."

" No, I meant Regina"

Graham gave him a strange look

"Regina? since when do you call her Mom?"

Henry was getting slightly irritated

"Since today I guess." He snapped "Could you just tell me where she is?I think I need to talk to her" he added in a softer tone

Graham, who had helped himself to some leftover bread in the cupboard answered in between mouthfuls of it

" She's at work, like every other day Henry, Oh and speaking of the devil, she told me to remind you, you have a session with Archie this afternoon."

"Right" Henry responded automatically, his brain still trying to process the new information.

Graham continued, apparently oblivious

"Well, I better get going , work and all"

He nodded his goodbye to Henry and left.

As the front door of the mansion banged shut, the boy was jolted out of his confused thoughts,one sentence appeared in his mind:

 _Now what?_

He stood in the middle of the kitchen contemplating the problem for a while, then his stomach growled, pulling him down to more worldly thoughts.

Sitting down he devoured his breakfast.

He then grabbed his school bag and headed out, it was much too late to catch the school bus, so the only option left was walking.

—-

School had been terrible. In this alternative StoryBrooke, as Henry had dubbed it, he had no friends. And apparently he was terrible in every single subject, in the real StoryBrooke, he was only failing maths. Despite this, throughout the day he had not concentrated on a single word his teachers had uttered, choosing instead to focus on trying to figure out what the hell was going on in his town. He had decided they must have been cursed, that was the only viable explanation, cursed how, by whom and why, he had yet to understand.

In this new StoryBrooke no-one seemed to know their fairytale identity, so he guessed they had been cursed back to before his mother's curse had been lifted by his other mother. But he was still fifteen, if they had been cursed back in time he would have regressed back to the body of a ten year old, right? And why was he the only one who remembered what the real StoryBrooke was like? and was he?

These questions buzzed around his mind for hours, until the final bell rang. He ran out of the school building intending to go find Emma, and he stopped short. He had no idea where she was, and he couldn't very well ask someone, Graham had said:

"..Where she always is."

So in this alternative StoryBrooke he should know where Emma spent her time, only he didn't.

Henry sighed dejectedly at the floor, then remembered something else Graham had mentioned

"…You have an appointment with Archie this afternoon"

He had always hated his appointments,as his mother had called them.

Every time he left Archie's office he felt more insane than before. But today the psychologist with no real degree could be helpful.

When he was younger the appointments had always been right after school, so he guessed they were now to.

He headed towards the ex-cricket's office hurriedly.

—-

When he arrived the door was open and Archie was sitting in his usual plump armchair sipping what Henry guessed was tea and reading a large volume.

Henry cleared his throat to catch the man's attention and entered the office, closing the door softly behind him.

"Henry!" The man had jumped in surprise at seeing him, "You're here!"

"We have an appointment don't we?" Henry was slightly startled by the other man's sincere surprise, and embarrassed by his clear delight at seeing him

"Of course we do!Of course, come in, come in!" Archie cried, quickly getting to his feet and shoving the boy into the too-soft sofa.

"How are you Henry? I haven't seen you in months!"

At this Henry's confusion cleared, even when he was younger he would sometimes sneak off to some secluded place to avoid the sessions with Archie, in the alternative StoryBrooke he must have done this quite often.

"I'm alright, I suppose" Henry suddenly felt insecure, all those years spent in that very sofa he was sitting on now came rushing back to him, bringing back the painful memories of being called crazy and insane by his classmates and the looks his teachers would give him as he walked through the school hallways, at the time he had honestly wondered wether he really was insane.

Archie continued, a wide smile on his lips

"You seem in a good mood today! Has something good happened?"

In a good mood? Henry had been glaring at the floor, his eyebrows knitted together, if this was a good mood for him, he understood why he had no friends. Nevertheless he responded

"Nothing great, just the usual. I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

"You know you can tell me anything, Henry, I won't tell anyone"

Right, except the Evil Queen.

Henry pushed that thought away and thought about what he wanted to say for a minute, where to start?

"Do you remember my Storybook?"

Archie's smile vanished, but he nodded

"The one you were convinced was real? yes of course"

"That one. Do you know where it is?"

Archie sighed

"From what I understood, your moth-Regina burned it, don't you remember? "

"Oh, Right, Yes. I remember."

Well that was not good. He had been counting on the Storybook to give him some answers.

Archie gave Henry a sad look, then his eyes sharpened

"Henry, you don't still believe the book is true, do you?"

For a second Henry wanted to defend his book at all costs,but he knew this would probably be a very bad idea, so instead he answered

"No, of course not."

Archie smiled again, in relief, and nodded. He continued to ask Henry questions, while the boy reflected on what his next steps should be. He answered Archie's questions shortly and only listened to them with half an ear. Archie didn't seemed to mind, he was overjoyed Henry was there at all.

Finally, towards the end of their hour, Henry decided to risk sounding out of place and ask Archie the question that had been burning at the back of his mind ever since that morning.

But he would have to phrase it very carefully, so he started slowly

"Archie, do you know….Where Emma might be?"

he got that last part out all in one breath, the man sitting across from him gave the teen a strange look, but answered anyway

"In the "one handed pirate" Henry, I think that's where she spends most of her time"

Henry allowed himself a small smile, but inside he was grinning. If he found his mother she could help him break the curse all over again, then he would have the help of his entire family to figure out what kind of curse they were under and why.

He thanked Archie and quickly headed out of the stuffy office.

As he walked he deiced that anyplace called "The one handed pirate" had to be near the docks, so thats where he headed.

 **Thank you for reading! Please spare thirty seconds to write a review, if you can! Thank you!**

 **I will be updating as soon as possible.**


	2. Chapter 2

—

"The one handed pirate" was, in fact, down by the harbor. It took him awhile to find it, as the entrance consisted of a tiny wooden door hidden behind heavy shipping crates.

The wooden sign above the door said "One handed pirat", the E having evidently fallen off many years prior.

Henry entered the bar apprehensively, inside there were no windows and the only source of light was the green neon lights, of which only half were working, and the functioning half pulsed erratically.

Inside the smell of smoke,alcohol and other not-so-pleasant things assaulted his senses, he had to close his eyes for a second to stop his head from spinning.

Bravely he made his way through the tiny room, barely avoiding the dirty wooden tables in the dim light. At the back of the room was a tall counter, behind it stood a heavy man with tattoos on his neck and bare arms.

The man was steadily drying beer glasses with a cloth that looked like it hadn't been washed in the past century.

Henry approached the counter and cleared his throat loudly. The man jumped, then turned to glare at the boy irritatedly

"Whadd'ya want boy?"

He slurred his words heavily and his voice was more the growl of an angry dog than a human sound.

"I'm looking for someone, they told me she'd be here…"

"Who ya lookin' for then?"

"Emma, Emma Swan?"

As Henry spoke he heard a familiar voice from a dark corner of the room, on his left

"Who are you? what do you want?"

Out of the shadows came the familiar shape of his mother, her blonde hair shining eerily in the green light

"Mom!"

Henry was overjoyed to see her, but Emma didn't seem to share his excitement, surprise flitted over her features, then sadness quickly replaced by anger:

"Kid. What are you doing here?"

"I'm.. I need….I just wanted to talk to you"

Henry was confused, and angry, at his mother's harsh tone. He hadn't expected her to remember, but he realized had been hoping it ever since setting out to find her.

She sighed and told him to sit wherever he wanted, she would join him in a minute.

All the tables were empty, so Henry chose one far from the counter, towards the door, the smell seemed to be slightly better there.

His mother joined him a few seconds later, a tall glass of beer in her hand. she sat facing him, Henry realized how dishevel she looked, her hair hadn't been combed, or washed in quite awhile, and her clothes were dirty and hung around her frame limply.

"Whats'up kid?"

Her tone was softer now, resigned to the conversation. Henry took this as a positive sign and leaned forward, his elbows on the dirty table.

"Mom, do you remember operation cobra? The StoryBook?"

His mother stared at him for a few seconds, as if gouging wether he was being serious, realizing that he was, she leaned back into her chair and took a deep gulp of beer. Then she nodded.

"I remember"

Henry took no notice of her tone and pressed on enthusiastically

"Well it was all real!"

The blonde hung her head backwards over the chair and groaned

"No, Please believe me!"

Henry mentally scolded himself, he should have known better than to try and convince his mother by simply telling her,this had already failed many years before, he should have though of a way to show her! to prove that he was telling the truth!

Nonetheless he continued

"It's all true, you are Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter, and my mom is the Evil Queen! Please believe me!"

"Oh Henry…." She leaned forward over the table, taking the boy's hand in her own

"Did something happen? Why are you going back to this now?"

Henry groaned and pulled his hand away from his mother's grasp, he got up for emphasis

"Something did happen mom! The truth is, we've all been cursed! This isn't how things were supposed to go! You broke the Evil Queen's curse, and my mom found her redemption, she became a hero! And we were all happy! We were! But then someone, or something cursed us, and no-one remembers anything anymore! It's like you never broke the curse! You have to break it again Ma!You are the savior! I believe in you! Please!"

He had practically screamed the last word at her, his voice had been progressively getting louder as he watched his mother's disbelief, mingled with pity for her poor, crazy son.

"Henry, Henry" It was Emma's turn to get up, she put one hand on her son's shoulder and tried to push him back into his chair, he pulled away from her angrily

"Please, Henry, listen to me!"  
The teen had stepped away from her, his arms crossed over his chest, anger was eating at him, he really wanted to punch something.

"You're a grown-up now! An adult! You can't believe in children's stories anymore!"

It was clear Emma had said exactly the wrong thing, because Henry glared at her, kicked his chair and stormed out.

Outside it was dark already, Henry took a deep gulp of the warm night air, looking up at the sky he sighed. His mother had been his one hope, if even she couldn't remember the way things were supposed to be, who could? if she couldn't,and wouldn't, break the curse, who would?

And if no-one broke the curse, he would be stuck in this alternative StoryBrooke, where he apparently hated his adoptive mother, and his biological mother spent all her time inside a dirty bar, drinking beer.

Henry was still standing outside "the one handed pirat" and men were starting to arrive, rowdy sailors and men with tattoos covering their entire barely glanced at him as they entered the bar.

The boy started to walk home. What else was there to do?

Dark thoughts clouded his head, suddenly he caught himself thinking

 _It's only three more years, then I can leave, I can have a normal life…get a girlfriend, find a job…It's only three more years._

He shook himself out of these thoughts, angry at himself for even thinking about giving up. He wasn't normal, and he never would be. He was a prince, and a prince has to look after his more than a prince, he was a son, and a grandson. And he couldn't let his family be miserable for the rest of eternity simply because he could not find a way to break the curse. Hope reenergized him, he was, after all, Snow White and Price Charming's grandson.

Thoughts started swirling inside his head, Emma was the savior, so clearly she had to be the one to break the curse, but she didn't believe him and she was in no state to find true love. Although if he put himself in a coma….but no, That was too risky, what if Emma did not kiss him?

These thoughts bounced around in his head for the better part of an hour, as he walked home. As he entered the mansion's small garden a sudden though struck mother knew! if this curse had brought them to exactly the same state they had been in before the first curse was broken,Regina knew about the curse, she could help Henry break it! He would just have to convince her that she wasn't the Evil Queen anymore.

Henry walked towards the front door of the mansion like a soldier walking towards certain death on the battlefield. But hope urged him forward, it wouldn't be easy, he knew, but he also knew that he could do it!


	3. Chapter 3

When Henry had walked into the mansion, a few hours earlier, he had not greeted his mother, trying to keep to the alternative Henry's personality until the time was right, he had run up the stairs and locked himself in his room.

An hour later he had been called downstairs for dinner.

When he entered the kitchen he had sat down without a word and glared at his plate, but when his mother had served him the potatoes they were having for dinner he had, accidentally, muttered a 'Thank you'

It had been very quiet, in the real StoryBrooke she would have scolded him for not speaking up, but in this alternative world she had been so shocked that she nearly dropped the plate in her hands. Henry had felt extremely guilty, but after that he had been very careful not to speak or look up from his plate again.

Dinner had been a very tense affair. Graham was there, this had surprised Henry at first, as his mother had always kept her relationship with the huntsman a secret from her son. He sat across from Henry, next to had not even tried to talk, clearly used to Henry's silent glare. The only sound breaking the quiet dinner was the cutlery scraping the dishes and the occasional soft sound of shuffling feet.

Henry tried to stealthily look at his mother, trying to gauge how she was doing. He was worried about her, especially after seeing the state Emma was in.

But his mother's face was inscrutable, as usual, maybe more than usual. He couldn't read her, her eyes were fixed on the food, she was eating steadily, almost mechanically, her back very straight.

Graham, on the other hand, was lounging on his chair, he was clearly used to eating with them.

When they all finished eating, Graham got up without saying a word and left.A few seconds later Henry heard the Tv blaring from the drawing room.

He turned to look at his mother, who had stopped cleaning up to stare at him

"Are you not going to your room?"

Her voice was steady, not betraying any emotion but a slight surprise at his unusual behavior,but he knew her well enough to see the glint of hope in her eyes.

Henry felt the guilt eat at him again, how badly had he treated his mother?

"No. I'm not leaving just yet."

He looked straight at her as he spoke, and for a moment he saw hope illuminate her features, just before she schooled her expression back to its usual impenetrable mask.

As if this was perfectly normal behavior for him, she turned back around and continued to clean up the remains of their dinner.

" I wanted to talk to you about something, actually"

Henry watched as his mother froze in place for a split second, before turning around and giving him a warm smile

"Of course Henry, just one minute"

Regina finished tidying up in record directed him towards the drawing room

"Mom, if you don't mind, I'd rather we talk alone" Henry said, realizing Graham was watching TV, sitting on the large white sofas. Regina had jumped when he had refried to her as 'Mom', and she was now smiling widely, she turned to the man sprawled on the sofa

"Get out Graham" she commanded, Henry sighed but didn't complain as Graham jumped and left hurriedly.

He sat onto the edge of the large sofa, playing nervously with his hands, his plan was not well thought out at all. His mother turned the TV off and sat next to him, taking his hands to stop his nervous fidgeting.

He looked up at her, her dark eyes bore into his and he found he couldn't begin with her looking at him like that. So he looked ahead of him, staring at the blank television screen.

"So, this is gonna be hard to digest….. But I need your help." Henry exhaled quietly, he thought he was beginning quite sensibly, he would not screw this up like he had done with Emma.

"Henry, you know I would do anything for you" Regina sounded questioning and slightly apprehensive, she didn't understand what had gotten into her son, she was afraid he had been hurt somehow, but she kept her tone soft, like one would with a scared animal, trying not to scare him further.

"Would you really?" Now Henry looked at her, his blue eyes begging.

"Yes, of course, you're my son! I love you" once more her voice gave nothing away

"Would you even break your own curse?" He was looking straight into her eyes as he spoke, and he saw the soft expression on his mother's face turn to anger. She got up, pulling her hands away from his

"Not this again Henry!" She didn't scream, his mother rarely her anger had quickly been replaced with a careful expression of concern

"You stopped believing I was the Evil Queen long ago, and all this talk of curses, you're old enough to know better Henry."

Her voice was soft again, as if talking to a dim child. Anger suddenly filled him, How dare she try and make him feel crazy again? After she had just told him she loved him!

He jumped up, his fists clenched at his sides

"Do. Not. Try to make me feel like a crazy child again mother! I know the truth now! Wether you like it or not, I know." He was practically screaming at her

"You know? You know? What do you know,Henry?" Her voice rose steadily

"You know that this town is filled with, what, fairy tale characters?" her voice was mocking, and Henry couldn't take it, he wanted to hurt her now, the way she hurt him, his voice lowered to a dangerous whisper

"No, I know what happened between you and Snow White, I know you saved her life, and in return she told your mother you were going to run away with the stable boy, what was his name? oh right…Daniel, . ."

Regina stared at him with wide eyes, as they filled with tears she turned around, refusing to let him see her weakness.

Henry felt a wave of guilt wash over him, his heart hurt, how could he be so awful?

He stepped closer to his mother, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder

"I'm sorry Ma, I didn't mean to hurt you, I just…"

She spun around, making him jump in surprise

Her mask was back on, he realized, the moment of weakness gone.

And now she was looking at him in a new light, her eyes calculating.

"Henry, let's assume, for the sake of argument naturally, that everything you said is true, and I am the Evil Queen."

Henry was taken by surprise, but he was pleased, they were finally getting somewhere.

"Oh..ok"

he sat onto the sofa, and his mother took to pacing slowly in front of him

"What would you have me do?"

"Help me break the curse….or help me help Emma, who's the savior by the way, break the curse"

"and, if I was the Evil Queen, Why on earth would I do that?"

She stopped pacing, standing directly in front of him.

"Because…because…It's the only way to get your happy ending!"

He got up

"Mom listen, we've been cursed! I mean double-cursed, I mean, oh gods! This isn't how things were supposed to go! Emma broke the curse when I was ten, and then you found redemption, I mean, we forgave you, and then the author cursed you to this other world where you were in Snow White's place and you died to save all of us and became a hero, only you didn't actually die because it was in the author's world! Only after that someone cursed us and now we're here, and I'm the only one who remembers how things are supposed to go!"

Regina was staring at him like he'd gone mad,she said nothing for the better part of ten minutes, then she seemed to pull out of her stupor and nodded

"Alright, I believe you."

"Really?"

"Yes"

"I mean, Really? So you admit you're the Evil Queen from the Enchanted Forest?"

"Yes"

Henry gasped, he had not expected it to be this easy.

"So, will you help me break the curse?"

"No"

"What? what do you mean No?"

Regina sighed, and sat down, she was still trying to process the fact that her son knew who she really was.

"Henry, since you seem to know everything, you must know that my revenge on Snow White is what makes me happy! Henry, if she's not miserable I can never have my happy ending!I can't help you, but we can be happy, with the way things are, now that you know...I don't have to hide myself from you can be happy, just you and me!"

"No" Henry found that he wasn't angry, not exactly, he was more resigned

"That's not why you don't want to break the truth is, you love power, you're addicted to it, and you're not going to give it up. Not even for that's why we can never be happy while you have power."

He didn't wait for his mother's reply. He left the room and went to bed.


	4. Chapter 4

Rubbing his palms wearily over his eyes he didn't make sense to him, That his mother refused to help, alright she was the Evil Queen, but she was his mother first! At least that was the way it was in the real StoryBrooke.

A knock on his door drew him out of his brooding, it was soft and uncertain.

"Come in" He groaned, turning on his bed.

His mother stepped into the room, her face thoughtful, considering something.

"What?" he snapped after a few seconds of silence

She sighed and sat on the end of his bed, a hand resting on his leg

"Henry…I…I guess I'll help, I have to don't I?"

Henry stared at her

"Why?"

It was a sincere question, he honestly didn't understand the sudden change of heart

"Because if I don't you'll probably get yourself hurt trying!"

She smiled warmly at him, but he remained serious, she sighed softly and looked away

"I, I can't lose you again Henry. These past few years, real or not real as they have been, were torture for me, Henry..I'm your mother, first and foremost. I love you more than any curse"

Choking slightly on his tears, the boy nodded, there she was, his Mom, his savior.

She smiled at his reaction and leaned to kiss his cheek, stopping halfway she looked unsure, he grinned and pushed himself up to kiss her cheek warmly.

Pulling away his grin disappeared, and he began in a serious tone

"Alright, operation-" He caught his mother's amused look and frowned

"You don't think I'm too old to come up with code names, do you?"

Realizing he was serious Regina laughed, surprising even herself, the shook her head softly

"One is never too old for code names, Henry"

The boy grinned widely and continued

"Operation WhiteSwan starts tomorrow morning, bright and early!"

"WhiteSwan?what exactly does this operation entail Henry?"

The boy smiled sheepishly

"We need to get Emma to be the savior again, and share True Love's kiss with someone…"

"Right..And how are we to do that, exactly?"

Henry rolled off the mattress in one swift move, and stood next to the bed, looking like a general commanding his officers in one of those action movies he liked so much.

" We need to get her to be happy again! The only way to do that, is to be her family..or friends…or you know, make her happy"

Regina groaned, and let her body fall onto her son's bed, hiding her face in the pillow

"I see you are not thrilled about the mission, officer"

He had deepened his voice and was standing with his chest puffed out and his hand locked behind his back, She looked up and smiled, going along with his game

"No, sir! Is there no other way to accomplish our mission?"

"Nope!"

Giving up his game the boy fell onto the bed and grinned at his mother

"We have to befriend Emma, make her feel like she's family, you know, make her happy, that way, she can love me again, and we can share true love's kiss again!"

"Henry… Emma does love you! there isn't many good things I can say about the ex-sheriff, but the fact that she loves you, it's a wonder how she manages it, it must be difficult to contain emotions in that tiny brain of hers…"

"Mom…"

"Sorry, I was saying, Emma does love you, and no matter how unhappy she is, if true love's kiss doesn't work now, it never will."

"It will"

Regina sighed and ran her fingers over her eyes,

"Henry, you don't know that"

" I have hope, I believe, that's all we need"

She stared at him a few seconds, then sighed

"Very well, you truly are Snow White's grandson, you know that?"

"I don't see you coming up with a better plan!"

He raised his voice

"Alright, Alright, We'll try it your way…But don't expect me to suddenly become best friends with Emma Swan."

He grinned widely

"Goodnight Henry,sleep now,You're going to need your energy tomorrow"

She sighed quietly and kissed the top of his head, getting up she mussed his hair lightly and left the the door quietly behind her, she leaned against it and sighed heavily, covering her face with her hands she slid down the door into a sitting position, her knees pulled up to her chest.

There was no way in hell she would help her son break the damn curse. She had everything she had worked so hard for, she had killed her father for the stupid thing!

And she had no illusions, if Emma Swan and her idiot family found out who she was, they'd tie her to a stake and burn her without a second thought.

But she could not lose Henry, not again. So she was stalling, she would pretend to go along with his plan, and if it should show any hint of working, she would sabotage it, Henry wouldn't suspect a thing.


	5. Chapter 5

The smell of pancakes and coffee woke him the next morning, groaning, he sat un in his bed,a wide grin settling on his features. His mom was going to help him break the curse!

They were going to get Emma back to herself, and then she would share a kiss with someone…and then…Henry groaned, falling back onto his bed and covering his eyes with his forearm.

His plan was not so well thought out after all, He couldn't be sure that Emma would share True Love's kiss with anyone, and how where they supposed to get her back to herself? what had happened in this Alternative StoryBrooke to turn her into the person she was now?

Sighing once more, Henry got up, dressing he mused on the task before him, it would take longer than anticipated to break the curse, he realized, and he needed some information first.

Thankfully, he thought, he had his Mom to help him now, there was no way they could mood lifted slightly at the sight awaiting him in the kitchen, his mom was cooking pancakes, blueberry, his favorite!

Whistling he sat down and she turned to look at him, smiling widely

"Morning Henry!"

"Morning Ma! Blueberry?"

She smiled at his excited tone and flipped a pancake directly onto his plate, his grin spread impossibly wider as he dug into his breakfast.

Sitting down in front of him, his mom began to eat her own breakfast, as they finished eating, Henry began to talk through his plan

"So operation WhiteSwan may have been a slightly rushed plan…"

His mother smiled at him from across the table

"Oh, you think so?"

she asked in a half-serious tone, he groaned playfully and leaned back against his chair,

"the truth is, I don't know where to begin breaking this curse…last time it was all about hope and faith and getting Emma to believe in magic…now…well it didn't work in this world did it? so why should it now?"

Against her better judgment Regina began to try and reason through this

"Well, you say we've been cursed again? is that correct?" At her son's affirmative nod she continued

"But, assuming that in the _real_ StoryBrooke you broke the curse at or around the time Emma arrived, you must have been, what? ten?"

He nodded,he'd already thought of this

"Yeah, which means that this new curse can't have brought us back completely.."

"So it must have given us memories that we would otherwise not have, the last five years for example" She mused, half to herself

" But not to me!" Henry's loud tone startled her out of her thoughts

"You don't have any memories of the past five years?"

"No, I mean, yes, but not of this StoryBrooke, only of the real one, where we broke the curse"

"That is strange, I wonder if whoever cast this curse left you out on purpose? perhaps they're testing you.. or maybe it was a side effect.., either way, it must have been a very powerful magic wielder, to cast such a curse"

"Powerful?"

"To Cast a curse that not only reinstates an already broken curse, one of the strongest ever cast by the way, but also erases a whole town's memories of the past five years? oh yes, this magician was very powerful…and I'm guessing they had a steep price to pay for this.."

At her last words Henry gulped slightly, thinking of the price his mother had paid to cast her own curse, and how much worse the price for this curse must have been

"But who would do such a thing? who would pay such a price to send us all to this time? and why?"

"You need to tell me about what was happening in the _real_ StoryBrooke when this curse took over"

Henry thought back, nothing had been happening actually, it had been one of those rare moments of peace, in between fighting one villain and the next, he told his mom so.

"That..doesn't make any sense. Was there any smoke? a sort of colored fog that spread over the town? Just before the curse?"

Henry concentrated, trying to remember, he realized he could not, his last memory of StoryBrooke was from the week before, when he and his mom's had a picnic in the park with baby Neal and Snow White, then he'd woken up in this version of told his mother once more, she looked thoughtful

"So, whoever cast the curse must have done so during that week, one week is not very long to prepare a curse that ,I can only imagine, is very complicated and requires many rare ingredients…. I think we need to go talk to someone Henry.."

She had gotten up at the last sentence and began to put on her coat, encouraging the boy to do the same.

"Where are we going?"  
"To go see someone who might know a little bit more about curses and magic than I"

She was already halfway out the door, and Henry had to run to catch up with her.

—

They drove in silence, as Regina was lost in thought. She didn't understand why she was putting so much effort in helping her son, just the day before she had promised herself that she would do anything to avoid the curse being broken, or re-broken, according to Henry. She'd decided he could not be making it all up once he'd brought up Daniel, there was no way he could know any of that particular story, unless he was telling the truth. And she had to admit, knowing that this was not her own curse but someone's clever copycatting of it, hurt her pride deeply, she convinced herself she was putting so much effort in finding more about it in order to find the man, or woman, who cast it and punish them for their insolence.

It was only a ten minute drive, and Henry found that he was not surprised by their destination, as they stopped outside " 's Pawnshop", he grinned

"Rumplestiltskin!" he sounded almost excited, his mother gave him a strange look, clearly still not accustomed to his knowledge of the town inhabitants true identities.

"Yes, Rumplestiltskin indeed, I've never understood wether he remembers our world or not, I suppose now is the time to find out" She stopped, with her hand on the handle of the entrance door

"Henry, please remember something, when we're talking to Rumple, take nothing at face value, whatever he says, whatever he gives you,whatever he does for you,he's not doing it out of the goodness of his black heart, he will get something out of everything. And his deals…never trust them…never trust him" sadness flashed across her features, but she quickly pulled her mask back on, looking once more at her son

"Understood?"

He nodded quickly, and, with little bit of apprehension eating at him, he followed his mother into the pawnshop.


	6. Chapter 6

"Gold!" Regina's voice rang through the shop, as usual, it was empty. The counter at the back vacant, not for the first time Henry wondered where Gold went when he wasn't keeping his shop. They stopped at the counter, and Regina called again

"Gold?"

Finally the man in question appeared, looking slightly annoyed, but he quickly straightened his face into a friendly mask at seeing the mother and son waiting for him

"Yes dearies? what can I do for you?"

His voice was, as always, slippery and unctuous, it reminded Henry of a poisonous snake, readying for attack. Regina looked to Henry and gestured for him to speak, he nodded and cleared his throat, deciding what to say

"Umm, Ok…so we kind of need your help with something…"

"How very eloquent my boy, and what is it you need my help with?"

Gold smiled venomously, his eyes lighting up at the thought of striking a deal with the pair

Henry, who had blushed profusely at the comment, tried to stammer out a response

"Well you see, its about, well…I don't know if you know.. but…"

Regina, at seeing her son's difficulty, stepped in

"Its about the curse,Rumple."

The man's eyes widened in shock, his smile disappearing to be replaced with a look of pure surprise, he took a step back and his mask was back on, a kind, but questioning smile on his lips.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I understand…Who is Rumple?"

The Queen rolled her eyes dramatically snorting quietly

"Enough with your games already, Imp, I know you remember"

"Remember?"

Henry stepped in, having seen Gold's reaction, like his mother, he was sure Gold knew exactly what they were talking about

"The curse you had my Mother cast on the people of the Enchanted forest? aren't you wondering why the Savior couldn't break it?"

Gold's eyes darted between Mother and son, wondering how much to reveal

"Ah, I think I may have a faint remembrance of what you're speaking of…"

This time Regina laughed, a humorless, hollow laugh.

Henry, on the other hand, was triumphant, he grinned and launched into his story.

"You see, the curse was broken! by Emma, and after she broke it, we were all living here and having adventures and the like, you know what I mean. Then one day, I woke up here, I call it the Alternative StoryBrooke, Here, the curse hasn't been broken! But I'm the only one who remembers how its _supposed_ to go!"

He had gotten it all out in one breath and Gold was looking at him with interest

"That…makes sense. I saw, before the curse was cast, that Emma would break it…But I had no way of seeing that it would be cast again…"

"Who would cast it? and why?" Regina was leaning over the counter, her intense brown eyes boring into the man

"Well I assumed it was you Dearie!" Gold turned to her, a look of honest surprise on his face

"It wasn't mom, It can't have been"

"And why not?"

"Well, first of all, why would she make herself forget that she cast a second curse? and second, she's changed, she's a hero now…was….is…you know what I mean"

Gold nodded thoughtfully, then leaned towards the boy, in a stage whisper he said

"But she could be pretending not to remember anything, and haven't you ever heard the phrase; once you go black, you never go back? its not talking about clothes m'boy"

Henry shook his head fiercely

"Then why would she be helping me now?"

Gold was about to respond when Regina interrupted

"Clearly, I can't have cast the curse, because Henry, the one I love most, is still alive and well, and standing right next to me."

Gold nodded

"Hmm, thats true, but I think…..yes I'm certain. To cast the Dark Curse a second time one would not need to use the heart of the one the caster loves most, but rather, the heart of his or her closest friend"

"I don't have any friends."

"Yes, I know. I believe I would qualify as your closest friend."

Regina snorted but did not disagree

"So, where does this leave us?"

"Not knowing who cast this curse, or why" The man's voice was mocking

"Hilarious" Regina spit out

Henry sighed at the two,as they glared at each other

"Can you help us?" His voice cut through the staring contest

"And what's in it for me?"

"Don't you want to find your son?"

Henry smiled, feeling a surge of pride in his heart as Gold's eyes hardened, his jaw locking he nodded stiffly.

"Follow me then, I may have something that can help"

They followed the limping man into the back, the room was filled with items of all shapes and sizes, just like the front,only here some items had very menacing looks, and Henry took care to stay away from them.

Gold gestured for them to sit at the heavy wooden table in the center of the room, while he limped toward a cabinet hidden in a corner of the room. He pulled out a dusty tome, and stroked the spine lovingly.

He placed the book on the table and sat down, rifling through the pages he seemed to find what he was looking for and stopped, opening the book fully he began to read to himself.

As he read, Regina and Henry watched him, as the minutes ticked by Regina began to click her heels,Gold took no notice, even when she began tapping her fingernails onto the wooden table. Finally she sighed

"How long is this going to take, Imp?"

"I'm done"

"Finally! What did it say?"

Gold straightened his spectacles and cleared his throat,

"Well, from what you've told me, and what I've seen and remember, this curse is an exact copy of the Dark Curse I gave you so many years ago. It seems that I was right indeed, and the second time the curse is cast, the heart of one's closest friend is needed. And, as you very well know, This curse requires a tremendous amount of power and magical skill, and I'm guessing whoever cast it stole it from me, as it is nearly impossible to all this considered, whoever cast this curse must be extremely determined, they probably have a personal vendetta against you or Snow White, and they are very powerful and skilled."

"Why do you say they have a vendetta against Mom or grandma?"

"Grandma? Ah, Snow White. Because this curse was first enacted by your mother to exact revenge on your grandmother, who is also your step-sister?" Gold looked confused for a second

"Ah, but whoever cast the curse may also have something against you" Regina stepped in

"You're the one who orchestrated the whole thing, after all, I was able to cast the curse thanks to you, and, obviously, for you"

"That is true….although unlikely in my opinion, I make deals, people agree to my terms, I rarely leave them with some reason to want revenge, and if I do, I usually kill them before they can"

Henry swallowed audibly at the easy way Gold spoke of killing, but neither of the adults took notice

"So, it would seem that the only way to lift this second curse is for a Savior to come along and do some saving. how did Emma break the curse last time, Henry?" Gold asked

"True Love's kiss, with me"

"Ah, of course, the most powerful magic of them all…True If you really want to break this curse, you're going to need to get the Savior to love again."

He got up, clearly asking the other two to leave

"Aren't you going to help us? Don't you want to break the curse and find your son?"

Henry looked at the man with curiosity, he had done everything he could, in the last curse, to break it, but now he seemed almost uninterested in it all.

"Oh, don't worry, I will be looking for my own way to break this curse.I don't mean to insult , but the last time I saw the Savior, she didn't look like she could do much saving, even if she wanted , she didn't"

Henry clenched his fists in anger, he was ready to insult the man, or perhaps punch him, but his Mother put her hand on his back and pushed him in the direction of the door

"Come on Henry, we got what we needed here,let's go"

His fists still clenched, the boy turned to glare at the small man, but without further resistance he let his Mother guide him outside, into their car.

 **Hi! It's me..the writer. I know I'm terrible...I know I know. I'm really bad at this time management thing...But i have managed to get an idea for where this story is going (which I did not know before...:P) And if I go in the direction i'm intending to go in, it will be a really long story ( I might actually divide it into two..)and knowing me it will probably take a decade to write, So I can't promise to update more regularly but I can promise to try!**

 **A thanks to everyone who reviewed this story!you have no idea how much it means to me! Please, please Review! (did that sound like begging? because it is) Even if you write one letter or one word (even if it's a swear word) You will make my day!**

 **Thanks so much for reading! I'll try and update sometime next week!**


	7. Chapter 7

To be honest with herself, Regina was glad, Gold didn't help them, not enough anyway, the only way to break the curse was to get Emma to love again, which, as Gold had pointed out, was damn near impossible.

What Regina wasn't happy with was the look on Henry's face, sadness and defeat mingling onto his features, but he would get over it, and she could keep her curse, she would make her own inquires into who had re-cast it, and punish them as she saw fit.

But in the meantime, she could have her revenge AND her son, finally, her Happy Ending.

Henry, on the other hand, was feeling absolutely defeated, he had known Emma was the only way to break the curse, but the way Gold had put it…he'd made it sound truly impossible.

They had been sitting in Regina's car for over ten minutes now, in silence, processing what Gold had told them. Finally she broke the silence, turning toward her son

"So…What now?"

Henry looked at her as if she had gone mad

"What do you think? We need to go see Emma"

Regina took a deep breath, she held it for a second, then sighed deeply

"Henry…You heard what Rumple said, she's not up to much saving these days…your…..mother" she'd nearly choked on that last word

"That's why we need to go see her! Talk to her! To make her love, and hope again, we need to give her a reason to!"

"And you think I'm going to be that reason?"

Regina almost laughed, her and Emma had been very close to killing each other on more than one occasion, in fact, the only reason the blonde wasn't dead was thanks to Henry, who she knew would have been devastated by her death.

"No Mom! WE are going to be that reason! We are going to be her family! you want us to be a family don't you?"

Regina looked at him, his deep brown eyes stared right back at her, meeting her gaze unflinchingly, she sighed, how was she supposed to answer that?

"Yes, of course I want us to be a family, Henry…Just not with her!"

"Well, it's either both of us…or neither"

His eyes had gone hard, and she knew that he was serious, if she did not do this for him now…she would lose him, saying a word the woman turned the key in its lock, starting the car.

"Thanks Mom"

—

Henry was grinning out the window like an idiot the whole drive to the docks, he was trying his hardest to hide his stupid smile from his mom, knowing it would upset her further. She was driving with a hard look in her eyes, her lips pursed she seemed to be glaring at the road ahead of her. She was slightly annoyed at herself, for caving in to her son once more, but she reassured herself, believing that Emma could not come back from the downward spiral she had been on for over three years now, even if they were "fake" years.

When they finally got to the harbor, Henry jumped out of the car at lightning speed, walking at breakneck speed towards the "One Eyed Pirat". Regina ran after him, walking as fast as she could in her high heels.

The look of disgust on the Queen's face when she caught a glimpse of the filthy pub was priceless to Henry, if predictable.

"It's not as bad as it seems.."

He tried to convince her as they stood outside, his mother seemed reluctant to enter the smelly establishment, but finally she smiled at him, and taking a deep breath she entered.

Inside, it was just as Henry remembered it, dimly lit and smelling slightly of urine. He saw his blonde mother sitting where he had seen her last time, drinking more beer, she was alone.

He pointed towards her and led the way to where she was sitting, stopping in front of his mother he cleared his throat, as she had not heard them approach.

Emma jumped slightly and looked up at him

"Henry?" she croaked, her voice was rough from the alcohol and smoke.

She lit up slightly at his smile, then she saw the woman standing behind him.

Emma got up so fast her chair fell backward, and her head spun, but she tried to keep steady and glared at the brunette standing behind her son

"What the actual…." She stopped short, glancing at Henry

"What are you…What is she doing here Henry?" the blonde was genuinely angry, she was now glaring at the boy, and he seemed to become smaller under her gaze

"I'm sorry Ma, you wouldn't believe me and I had no other choice..We need her"

Regina felt like someone had just stabbed her "we need her…", so it was not her and Henry who needed Emma, it was Emma and Henry who needed Regina? well then…the woman was hurt, but she kept her face expressionless.

Emma, on the other hand, was not expressionless, anger, no, fury was showing through every crease of her face

"How could you Henry? This…woman..this Monster ruined my life! She ruined me Henry! And she ruined you! Look at me! do you see what a mess I am? and it's all her fault!"

Henry was staring at his mother, who was currently yelling at him, he could feel tears beginning to sting his eyes.

"Enough!" Regina's voice was lower than Emma's, but she stopped yelling anyway, the authoritative note in the Queen's voice making it's mark.

"It is not his fault i'm here, Emma" She spit her name out like venom

"He's just a boy, and if you have a problem with me, you take it to me…not a 15 year old boy. Like adults…do you know what that means?" her voice had become mocking, a smirk playing on her lips.

"If I have a problem with you? If I have a problem with you?" Emma's voice was almost stunned

"Are you kidding me? You ruined my life!"

The Queen gave her a once over, then smirked in disgust

"Hmm…I'm pretty sure you did that to yourself, dear" She pointed to a large coffee stain in the other woman's sweater

Emma looked down, and when she looked back up at the Queen, her eyes were fire.

"Oh? I did it to myself did I? You, with your power plays, and your smug looks, and your perfect outfits…you really are evil…a year...a made me lose a year of my life locked up, behind bars, for crimes I didn't commit! you made them up!"

"Did I? well then…why didn't the court find you not guilty?" She was toying with the younger woman, seeing her drunk and angry state, she wanted to show Henry just how pathetic his biological mother really was

"Not guilty? everyone knew I didn't steal those things! Everyone knew you made it up! But you scared them all into believing you, didn't you? 'Cause thats what you do! You scare people, and you use your 'power', just because you're the mayor! Not like you're a Queen or something!" Emma seemed to be talking more to herself than to Regina now, and Henry turned to the brunette and elbowed her quietly

"Mom.." He whispered

She looked at him, knowing perfectly well what he wanted but unwilling to give it to him, but as she looked into his brown eyes she sighed, that boy could ask her anything and she would do it.

"Actually" She cleared her throat " I am"

Emma stopped her ranting at turned to look at the woman, staring at her with a disbelieving expression on her face

"What?"

" A Queen, I mean, I am. I'm the Queen…The Evil Queen"

Emma continued to stare at her, for a full minute she said nothing. Finally she burst out laughing

" Oh My God! You've gone mad! You're completely insane! Oh My God! I don't believe this! This is the best day ever! Oh God! You're crazy! I knew it!" She continued to laugh hysterically ad the two watched her, slightly annoyed looks on both their faces

"No Emma, I'm not mad, it's the truth"

"Yeah right…you're the Evil Queen and I'm Snow White's daughter…HA! Do you really think Snow White's daughter would have a drinking problem?"

"Fine! You know what? I don't really care, why don't you go back to where you came from?"

Regina had enough, she would not stand the blonde idiot any longer, and disgust filled her as the woman tried to take a sip of beer and spilled it all over herself. She grabbed Henry's arm

"Come on, Let's 's nothing else to say here"

"No…wait..Mom" Henry whined as Regina began to drag him out of the pub, finally he let himself be pulled away, as Emma dropped her head onto the table, seemingly falling asleep in an instant. But as they were walking out Regina heard a shout

" You know what Regina? I would have left! But that year? In prison? If I didn't have anyone before that..that year certainly didn't make me any friends! Who was I supposed to go back to, huh? and with what money? It's all your fault, Your majesty…All your fault!"

Regina shook her head at the drunkard and dragged her son out of that disgusting place, vowing to never go back there again.

Henry was too shaken to say anything as they walked back to the car, his eyes were still full of tears he felt he could start crying at any moment, so he said nothing as the car started and they made their way back to the mansion.


	8. Chapter 8

Henry was angry. He could not believe he'd actually let his mother give up, and drag him away from the Savior.

Partly he blamed himself, for being so childish that he let Emma's words upset him. But mostly he blamed his mother, Regina. And he let her know it.

Slamming the car door closed, he stalked towards the house quickly, ignoring his mother's sigh.

"Henry…"

"What!"

it wasn't really a question, and he didn't wait for an answer, reaching the front door long before his mother had even locked the car.

He let out an annoyed huff as he realized he didn't have the keys, and waited impatiently as his mother made her way over slowly.

Stopping in front of him she tried to make eye contact, but he avoided her, looking intently down at his feet.

She reached out to touch his shoulder but he shrugged her away and Regina sighed once more, defeated, she unlocked the door and entered.

As she took off her shoes Henry walked past her, without saying a word

"Shoes, Henry!"

She called after him, he ignored her and ran up the stairs, she heard the door to his room slam shut.

Groaning under her breath she made her way slowly to his room.

He was laying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling with an inscrutable expression on his face.

"Henry…I'm sorry about Emma, but you saw her! she's in no state to save the day"

she made a large gesture with her hands on those last words, her tone dripping ironically

"Whatever"

He grumbled, turning on his side so his back was facing her. She sat down next to him and put her hand on his side,she was heartened when he didn't move to shrug her hand off.

"I really am sorry, I want to break this curse…I do"

"No you don't!"

Henry suddenly jumped up, anger getting the best of him

"You've never wanted to break it! I know because I know you! And I know the Hero You and the Evil Queen You, and Hero You would never have given up so easily! Never! But Evil Queen You…Well she doesn't want to break the curse does she? All she wants is to make me think she wants to break the curse, so that she can have my love. But guess what? I don't love the Evil Queen, I love my mom, and You're not my mom!"

Regina had gotten up as well now, the pair was facing off from either side of the bed.

Henry nearly regretted his words when he saw the pain in the brunette's eyes, she looked like she could burst into tears, but a second later she was stone-cold again, and Henry regretted nothing.

"Don't you dare take that tone with me Henry! I am your mother! I grew you, I am your mother! Not that woman drinking her life away!"

Regina was positively fuming now

"Do you really want an alcoholic as a mother Henry? Wouldn't you prefer someone successful? Someone who can guide you through life? Not spend your entire college fund on card games and alcohol?"

They were both silent as they glared into each other's eyes, finally Henry broke the silence, his voice quiet

"No, I wouldn't. I prefer someone kind, and good and brave. I would prefer someone who actually cared about me, and who is on my side…even if it means doing something they would rather not do, something that will hurt them.'Cause that's what parents do!"

Regina froze, she had been about to reply venomously to her son when an image of her father appeared in her mind.

As she thought of him tears began to pool into her eyes, that kind, brave, good man…who'd sacrificed everything for his daughter, even his life.

"Mom?" Henry was getting slightly worried, his mother was standing in from of him shaking slightly, her eyes tearing up.

Regina shook out of her thoughts quickly and her tone changed, turning softer

"You're right Henry, This whole time I didn't really want to help you, I just wanted you to love me for trying. But i understand that won't work now, you're too smart for that, and what kind of mother would it make me anyway?"

She sighed shaking her head, then answered her own question

"Not a very good one"

She looked up at her son, and he gave her a small smile

"So…you'll help me?"

"Yes, I will. For real this time"

The boy grinned, feeling hope rise up in his chest once more

"We need to go back to Emma then!"

"We are not going anywhere, you saw how unstable she is, it's best if I go alone"

"Will you be able to convince her though? on your own? No offense but she kinda hates you…"

Regina laughed and sat back onto her son's bed, he followed her example and sat crosslegged, leaning his back on the headrest

"I think I can handle 's 's hate Henry, and I don't need to convince her magic is real just yet..I'll just convince her to let us help her…it shouldn't be too difficult…I hope"

—-

Emma was sitting exactly where Regina had left her, her head resting on the rickety wooden table, surrounded by a pool of beer.

Disgusted, Regina sat across from the sleeping (passed out) woman.

She cleared her throat quietly, and when that elicited no response she coughed loudly, when this also failed the brunette groaned and slammed her fist on the table. Emma woke with a start, Regina gagged at seeing the thin line of spit running down the blonde's chin.

"Regina? Why are you here?" there was no anger in the younger woman's voice, just defeat and a hint of despair.

"I wanted to apologize, for earlier"

"Why? you've never apologized for anything else…that was nothing compared to..everything else"

Regina forced herself to relax

"Well then, I'm apologizing for everything"

"You're apologizing for ruining my life? Nice." As she said this Emma caught the eye of the bartender, she signaled to her empty glass

"Yes.I'm apologizing for ruining your life"

Regina could feel her muscles tense up, she hated apologizing, for anything, ever. She was a Queen, and Queens didn't apologize! But this was for Henry, she reminded herself, she had to at least try!

"I haven't heard you say sorry yet…"

She almost growled, all she wanted to do was get up and she said "I'm…Sorry" Through gritted teeth.

Emma laughed, a hollow, bleak sound

"Cool" She muttered,

then took a long sip of her refreshed drink, it wasn't beer anymore, but a dark liquid Regina guessed was some kind of hard liquor,

she reached over to the blonde and grabbed the drink from her hand, the other woman yelped in surprise

"If you wanted one, you could've asked!"

"I don't want one, I want you to stop drinking"

Emma gave her a strange look, then shook her head

"Give it back"

She reached over, trying to grab the drink from the older woman

"No"

"Give it back!" her voice rose to a high pitched shriek

"I'm not giving it back, Emma!"

Regina exclaimed in surprise as the blonde all but jumped over the table for the glass, she pushed her away with one hand while keeping the drink as afar away as possible with the other

"How dare you? How dare you?"

Emma was angry now, she was screaming at the brunette keeping her away from her drink

"First you turn me into…into this!"

She gestured towards herself

"And then you deny me my one pleasure? My one escape from it all?"

She was shrieking now

"And you think..you think Sorry is enough? Sorry?"

"Emma, please listen, I am sorry, and I know it's not enough! I know! that's why I want to make it up to you! Come with me, let me take care of you for a while..until you get back on your feet.."

Emma looked at the woman across from her as if she was seeing her for the first time, and indeed she had never seen this side of her.

"You? Help me? let you take care of me?"

She scoffed loudly

"Over my dead body! In fact, I would probably be dead within a week! Who knows what it would be? maybe an accident…'oh..she fell down the stairs and broke her neck…oops'"

Emma made her best impression of Regina's voice

" Or maybe a heart attack, or or ' Who knows what it was? one moment she was fine, the she ate this home made apple pie and…she was gone..maybe she was allergic to apples?'" Emma was laughing now, a high pitched, hysterical laugh

" No, no, Emma!"

Regina had gotten up and her tone was pleading

"Please, you have to trust me! The truth is…I wouldn't be doing this for you..but for Henry"

Emma seemed to be calming down, and at the mention of her son she sobered up, sitting down she muttered

"He couldn't stop you from killing me"

"No"

Regina agreed, sitting down herself

"But he's a smart boy, it wouldn't take long for him to figure out what happened to you."

Emma hummed in agreement

"And, I don't know if you know this, but the relationship between Henry and me had been…strained, lately"

Emma sneered at this

"I think everyone knows…it's more like non-existent than strained, don't you think?"

Regina bristled but continued as calmly as she could

"Yes..exactly, But he's given me a chance now…and in order to take that chance, I need to make amends with you"

"Because he thinks I'm the Savior and I can break the…what is it? spell?"

Her voice dripped with sarcasm

"A Curse. But Yes, that's why"

"And you believe him?"

"Not necessarily…"

Regina decided it was not a good idea to confront Emma about magic now, not when they seemed to finally be getting somewhere

"But, it doesn't matter why he is giving me, us, this chance, all that matters is that we take 't you think?"

Emma considered this for a while, finally she nodded

"I suppose you're right"

Regina sighed in relief

"So you'll come with me?"

"You promise not to poison me? Or otherwise attempt to kill me?"

Regina sighed, smiling at the half-joking question and nodded

"I promise"

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 **HI Everyone! Thanks so much for your reviews and for reading this story, and for sticking with me even though i haven't uploaded in a while! (and thanks for not being angry...) Life kinda got in the way in the past few months, but I'll try and update as regularly as possible from now on.. Also I apologize if it seems to be getting a bit repetitive, but stick with me! this is the last (I hope) repetitive chapter. Also I have a totally-super-detailed plan for this story, and it will turn out to be about 17-18-19 chapters, There will be no romantic pairing (so if that's what you were hoping for..I'm sorry) and it will only deal with the breaking of this particular curse. The story will end up branching off and i will write another follow-up story for it, the reason I want to do this is that this story is super family-centered but the next one (the branching off one) is going to be rather dark (extremely dark) and will not be family - centered at all. So Tell me what you think! Btw I love you all!**


	9. Chapter 9

Meanwhile, Henry was bored. He was sitting on the couch watching TV, and felt totally useless. He wanted to be helping! He wanted to be breaking the curse, not just sitting around and waiting for someone else to do it for him!

He looked at the clock, his mother had been gone nearly an hour.

Making an impulse decision the boy stood up, grabbing a thin jacket off it's hook, he left the house.

He walked quickly,not noticing anything in his path.

Reaching his destination, he stopped ; staring at his reflection in the shop window he reflected on what he was about to do, and his mother's words echoed in his ears "…never trust him" she'd said, at the time he'd wondered if there was something else to that, what had Gold done to make Regina hate and distrust him so much?

Ignoring the doubts in his head, the boy pressed his hand against the cold glass door and pushed his way into the dim little shop.

Gold was not behind his counter, As usual, Henry thought.

" ?" Henry's voice was soft, but he heard the shuffling of papers and something knock over in the back of the shop

"Henry?" The small man appeared from behind heavy curtains

"Yeah..Um, Hey"

"What are you doing here M'boy?" Gold didn't seem angry, if slightly annoyed

"I was bored. Mom went to talk to..Mom, and she left me home. I want to know what you're doing…to save StoryBrooke?"

Henry didn't know where he'd found the courage to speak so plainly to the darkest, most powerful sorcerer in the world and apprehension gripped him as he found himself hoping he didn't get turned into a frog, he looked at the Dark One with slight fear in his eyes but all Gold did is humph, looking ever more annoyed, then his expression changed, and he turned to look at Henry, giving him an intense stare he seemed to consider something, Finally he said

"Very well, Come with me" He turned back and limped into the back of the shop

"Really?" Henry was overjoyed, he really wanted to help break the curse, but his mother seemed to think he was too young, she didn't know what they'd been through together, but he was going to get her to remember!

The boy followed the man into the back room, it looked just like it had that morning, only there were books strewn all over the place now.

Rumplestiltskin was already busy with something, he'd opened a large chest, which had been hidden under heavy drapes and several stacks of books, which were now gracing the floor.

He rummaged through the chest for a few seconds, reappearing suddenly with a pleased look on his face, he had something in his hand that Henry couldn't make out

"Come on!" Rumplestiltskin called to him as he limped out of the back door.

Following him quickly Henry wandered what the hell was going on.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see, You'll see soon!"

Gold sounded excited as he climbed into his car, Henry, on the other hand, eyed him uneasily

"Are you sure you can drive? You know…with your leg?"

Henry didn't wait for an answer as Gold glared daggers at him, he jumped into the passenger seat of the car.

As they drove, Henry had to wonder at the man's ability to drive, nonetheless he was still apprehensive, the Dark One was dangerous and fear was beginning to grip his heart as he though of what he could possibly have planned, he only hoped it would help lift curse.

Gold slowed as they reached their destination, they parked in front of a line of trees, Henry knew this place, it was the beginning of one of the less know hiking trails that ran through the StoryBrooke forest.

"What are we doing here?" He asked, half to himself

"Hiking, obviously" The limping man smiled at him, he was already heading into the forest.

"Okay…But where are we going?" Henry asked as they walked

"Do you know where the old well is?" Henry nodded, he'd been there when his Mother and Grandmother had come back from the Enchanted Forest, it seemed like a very long time ago now.

"Good" Said Gold, noticing the boy's nod

"That's where we're going"

"Are you sure you'll make it?" Henry hadn't meant to ask, but the well was a long walk, and Gold didn't seem in any condition to make the hike, he regretted his words as soon as they were out, as the man turned to look at him sideways

"I'm glad you're concerned for me Henry, I'll be fine" His tone was dripping with sarcasm.

They made the rest of the hike in silence.

By the time they got to the well, red streaks were beginning to color the sky, as the sun dipped below the horizon, and under the trees it was already twilight.

"We won't be able to make the hike back,it'll be too dark!" Fear once again gripped Henry, he began to imagine the worst possible scenarios, and started to panic. Gold didn't seem worried at all, however, and he simply laughed and said

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that"

Before Henry had the chance to say anything the man pulled out of his pocket a tiny vial filled with purple liquid

"What is that?" Henry cried as Gold unstopped the bottle over the well, the man turned to smile at him, then let the bottle fall into the well.

"What did you do!? The boy pushed his head over the edge of the well, trying to see if something was happening at the bottom, all he could see was black.

"That, my dear boy, is magic"

"You brought back magic?" The disbelief in his voice was almost palpable, as he turned to stare at the Dark One.

When he didn't answer, Henry noticed a purple fog slowly making it's way over the edge of the well, the fog twisted and turned thickly, as it slid out of the well it fell to the ground and began to expand faster and faster , within minutes it had covered the whole visible area around them, and had risen so far that Henry could not see where it ended.

Gold was ecstatic, as soon as the fog had enveloped them he'd thrown his walking stick away, and we was now making fireballs with his hands, letting them appear on his palms and extinguishing them a few seconds later.

Finally, the Dark One stopped playing with his magic, and grabbed the still-bewildered boy by the shoulders, once more fog enveloped them, only this time it was dark grey.

Suddenly they were back in Gold's shop, and Henry was staring at him

"Why would you do that?" his voice had a hint of panic in it, magic was never a good thing in his opinion, plus his Mother was Evil again, her having her magic back was not what he wanted.

"It's much easier to break a curse when you have magic, especially if you're the Dark One"

Rumplestiltskin turned to look at the boy an ominous smile gracing his lips.

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 **HI! Sorry for the short chapter! I was planning to write it together with the next one but when I realized I have to wait one more week for another OUAT episode I had to write it! Thank you for all the reviews and follows and favorites! You have no idea how happy those make me! To respond to someone's review: No there will be absolutely NO hint of a ship...sorry, It's a family story! And also to respond to someone else: There is no Hook or Robin in this story, it's just assumed they disappeared somewhere when the curse hit ("The one eyed pirat" is kind of supposed to be the embodiment of Hook, which is a little weird but..) ...(guess that's kind of a hint of a ship ;) ) Maybe they'll be back...maybe as for Emma...well, who knows?**


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